Frequently Asked Questions About Norm And His Show

Q.

The work table Norm built used MDF on the top, but now when we see it whatever is on the top of the table appears to be blue or gray in color and doesn’t look anything like MDF. What is it? (question from a private e-mail.)

A.

Frequently, particularly when cutting sheet goods to size with the trim saw and Tru-Grip, Norm covers the table (and before he had it, the workbench) with Homosote, a sheathing made of recycled newspapers. It’s been around for a long time; I remember when I was fooling around with model railroading in the ’60s it being recommended as a substrate for that. It has a gray color.

While that was a pretty fair answer, further correspondence revealed that the MDF Norm originally used has since been painted blue. That was what had prompted the original question.

Q.

Has anyone seen what size Norm’s shop is? (question asked on rec.woodworking, a news group, sometimes called Usenet, devoted to woodworking)

A.

From the New Yankee Workshop website, “[w]orking in a 936-square-foot workshop…”

Another friend, Tom, sent me a drawing of the shop. You can see it here

Q.

He must have a ton of help to get a project done in a half hour.

A.

Well, don’t discount the magic of TV production, where the camera stops while the glue dries, and while the second, third, or 100th part (as in the Wine Rack episode) is cut. In fact, the project you see being built is actually the second of three. Sanding and finishing, too, account for a considerable amount of off camera time. You simply don’t see all of the steps involved in constructing the project.

According to Russ Morash, quoted in an article on the program in the April, 1993, issue of Fine Woodworking, Norm always builds a prototype first, off camera, to work out concepts and closely annotating all dimensions and joinery details—then he builds a second for production of the show—and finally a third for photography. Morash also says there are only three people in the shop during production—Norm, the cameraman, and the grip (assistant).

From the website: “Norm completes a typical show in two days. He does all the work himself, using an assistant only for cleanup and finishes.” That was in 1993, however, and I have noticed in the last couple of years, now that the shop cam is in place, that it often takes three days.

Q.

What was the first occurrence of such and such a tool?

A.

Rather than try to answer that question here for each tool, please look up the tool in question on the Tool List page and check the episode number there.

Q.

When did Norm first start using MDO (medium density overlay; an exterior plywood substrate with one or both surfaces covered with an industrial paper suitable for painting)?

A.

In Season 1, Episode 13.

Q.

Norm loves biscuits—when did he first use them, and what biscuit joiner did he use?

A.

In Season 2, Episode 3 Norm introduced biscuits and used an Elu 2278. Although that’s now retired, he’s since used at least six others.

Q.

I just saw Norm using an Acme burfl. How come you don’t have it listed.

A.

When I first started chronicling Norm’s Tools, I only worked on power tools. Eventually (on successive passes through the tapes), I started noticing the block plane a lot, then the Drill-n-Drive bits, and so on, and I added them to the list. Generally, I avoid small tools that only made a single appearance, or generic tools like his dead-blow hammer, screwdriver, and utility knife (although I’ve begun another pass through the episodes with the aim of chronicling many of those), or tools that defy identification (which are very, very few). I did recently receive an e-mail from a visitor identifying his framing hammer as a 16oz. Estwing, leather handled, curved claw model. I don’t think I’ll go back and add that to the tool list, though (however, I am working on hammers generally).

Q.

Tell me about Norm’s safety speech.

A.

What has become the ubiquitous “…let’s talk about shop safety,” and concluding with “…to wear these, safety glasses,” began with the first episode in Season Two (read it here). In the first season (and for the first two episodes in the second season) a chyron appeared whenever he used the table saw warning about blade guard use.

Once the safety speech started, it was done at the beginning of the show, outside the shop, immediately following a display of the finished piece and reassurance that plans were available (the magic of post-editing). As I continue my run-through of the episodes I’ll take note of when the transition took place to the point where the speech is given today and chronicle it here.

Interestingly, the last few episodes of the 2003 season had the safety speech voice-over while he was working on the actual project, instead of the stock footage (making molding on the router table the last few years) that’s usually shown during the speech.

Q.

I tried to do a web search on that wood supplier that supposedly carries those special melamine screws Norm used, but I had no luck.

A.

They’re called Confirmat style screws, and McFeely’s, among other suppliers, carries them.

Q.

How come Norm uses/doesn’t use such and such a tool?

A.

According to the New Yankee Workshop website, Norm uses tools that work well and hold up to his standards. That said, keep in mind that his show has sponsors who make tools, and it is no accident that the Porter-Cable and Delta lists of tools are now extensive. In the first season, there were only a couple of P-C tools and only one Delta, which was really a Rockwell. By the same token, and in fairness to Norm’s integrity, Delta and P-C both make first rate tools.

However, infer at your own risk what Norm really thinks about a tool. If I were to bet, though, I would lay large amounts of money that a Lamello biscuit joiner, Senco SLP20 brad nailer, Makita 3601 D-handle router, Bosch 1584 jig saw, and the Bessey K-Body clamps meet the test. They’ve been around a long time, even with competing models from the sponsor available and having made appearances. I do wonder why there’s never been one Milwaukee in all those years...

Q.

Tell me about the drum sanders Norm used on the drill press.

A.

Those drums have a slot and a key that permit you to make your own sanding insert out of ordinary sandpaper. Norm first used them in Episode 201 and according to the New Yankee Workshop website, they subsequently died after long and glorious service. The last occurence I’ve found is episode 813.

Q.

Why are there are so many unidentified tools in your lists?

A.

Well, there aren’t very many, anymore. I’d guess just a couple, really. Over the years I’ve been pretty lucky in finding some stuff which had only a single appearance or fleeting view. In addition, the producers have gone to great lengths to mask the identity of tools used in the program in order to comply with PBS standards. My effort at chronicling tools used relies heavily on combinations of the following:

in a couple of cases, I’ve actually been contacted by the manufacturer who provided the ID!

However, not all of those sources are productive. Consequently, some of the tools are listed with a question mark or a generic identification. If you have or recognize any of them, please forward a brand name and a model number to me and I’ll correct the list.

Q.

Just how much information do you have? How many of the tools have you actually identified?

A.

I have more than 350 items in the database. Some of those include minutiae such as the digital readout that once appeared on the Biesemeyer fence and several one-time appearances of tools. A better number is about 275 or so, which takes a lot of that miscellaneous stuff out of the count. I have positively identified nearly all of those, and I have pictures of more than 98% of them.

Q.

I want to visit his shop. What do you know about it?

A.

Well, I know where it is. But it’s my understanding that all involved with the show are very circumspect about its location. In other words, they wish to maintain privacy and they cannot accommodate visitors. Consequently, more I will not say.

Q.

How come sometimes he uses one brand of tool and then uses a different one on the next show, and then goes back to the first one?

A.

In some cases (Biesemeyer fence) after a fairly lengthy use of the second product (Unifence), he just prefers to go back to the first. In other cases (routers, drills), he has an assortment of them, all useful, so he just mixes them up. That happens less often on recent (2000 and later) episodes.

In addition, I feel many viewers get confused about the sequence in which they are seeing shows. For example, once PBS stations air the most current season, they start airing episodes from previous seasons (usually in order), about three years worth during the year, and then rerun the current season just before starting the next one.

In my market (Daytona Beach, FL, area) there are three PBS outlets, and at least two of them air other episodes than the current one once or more during the week. Consequently, I might be able to see four or five different episodes of TNYW in any week.

On HGTV, the picture was muddier, since they changed their programming schedule significantly during their run of TNYW (and now they no longer air it at all). At one time, however, the programs they aired during the week were often from a different season than the ones they aired on the weekend.

If you aren’t paying attention, it’s easy to get out of sequence. Check the copyright date at the end of the program. That should at least get you in the right season. Note, however, that the 1989 and 1990 shows all have a 1991 copyright, and in later seasons the copyright date sometimes reflects the production date, and not the air date.

Finally, it’s become clear to me that there were many times when the order the programs were aired did not reflect the order in which they were produced. I once played around with Season 1 trying to figure which really was the first episode (and what sequence they actually shot all the episodes) based on the field trips, the tool use distribution, etc. It was kind of interesting. I’ll never know about those early years, but since the 2006 season, the actual shoot dates have been listed at the NYW website. I’ve noted them thusly in my episode pages.

Q.

What router does Norm have in the router table he built? You never see him take it out.

A.

In the episode where he built the table (Season 8, Episode 13) he installed a Porter-Cable 7518 in it. Presumably that’s what he keeps in there. I don’t recall the 7518 making an outside appearance since then, until the new router table he built at the beginning of the 2003 season, and then only briefly. Update: in Episode 1807 you could make out the 7518 as he changed a bit. Further update: Reviewing Episode 705, I noticed that Norm was carrying a 7518 in the opening introductory shot. The purpose was to lead into the process of using a router table to create raised panel doors, featuring his new door making router bit set (CMT).

Q.

About those red, long-sleeved flannel shirts...

A.

Actually, in the first season, Norm mostly wore blue, short-sleeved, plaid shirts. One episode had him in a solid blue pullover shirt. So the trademark red flannel started later. And actually, it’s not red that often, either.

In a recent article in Boston Magazine about This Old House Norm is quoted on the subject, “In the early shows you’ll see me in solid-color shirts, and I would have plaid shirts when it was really cold. Russ was the one who said, ‘You know, plaids, they work really well; you should wear the plaids.’ I said okay, went out and bought myself a bunch of plaid shirts. Now I can’t not put one on.”

Q.

What about Normisms?

A.

Other than the accent issues, which he can’t help (such as building a draw or doing a little assembaly), I didn’t think there really were any, but in the course of reviewing a lot of episodes in a short period of time, I’ve picked up a couple. On two or three occasions I’ve heard him say, “well, we’re gainin’ on it,” a tradesman’s expression for “we’re making progress.” Another one that he uses a lot is, “that’s not going anywhere,” usually said just after nailing or bolting a couple of pieces together. These aren’t criticisms; they’re just expressions of individuality that make the program (and Norm) more than just cookie cutter production television.

Q.

Are you connected with Norm or his show?

A.

Not at all. Never met him or corresponded with him. I wish I could; everyone who has met him says he’s really nice and a regular person. I’m just a fan, both of Norm and his show.

I think The New Yankee Workshop has been instrumental in introducing woodworking to a wide audience who might not previously have been inclined to participate. For those of us with long ties to woodworking, that translates to a bigger tool market, more selection, better prices, not to mention more participants with whom to share our hobby.